1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for displaying a power-on self-test (POST) code and a method thereof, and more particularly to an apparatus for displaying a basic input output system (BIOS) POST code and a method thereof.
2. Related Art
When an apparatus such as a computer system is started or reset, a basic input output system (BIOS) performs a power-on self-test (POST) on the hardware. The POST is a test performed by the computer system for the purpose of normal operation. It first tests whether elements of each portion are in order or whether a particular apparatus failed to be properly installed before an operating system is loaded. After the POST is performed, a POST code is generated if an abnormal situation occurs in the computer system. The POST code identifies non-functional hardware, so the problem can be overcome.
In older systems, the POST code is transmitted to a PCI bus by a system main chip, and then decoded and displayed by a device connected to the PCI bus. Nowadays, the POST code is generally transmitted to a low pin count (LPC) interface bus by the system main chip, and then received and displayed by an external inspection device.
When the POST code is transmitted via an LPC interface, a connection port needs to be reserved on the motherboard of the computer system, so as to connect the inspection device and receive the POST code. As an LPC interface has seven signal lines, a space consisting of seven pins must be occupied. However, with the increasing progress of notebook technology, requirements of low weight and small width make the space in the notebooks fairly valuable. Therefore, the connection port to be reserved for the LPC interface occupies too much space on the motherboard.
Moreover, in the prior art, in order to connect the inspection device to the connection port of the LPC interface on the motherboard to receive and display the POST code, the computer's case must be disassembled. This is very inconvenient, and the procedure becomes more difficult.
Therefore, a method of transmitting the POST code through a USB port is proposed in the prior art. However, an USB interface has to be initialized by the computer system in order to operate normally, and as a result the USB interface cannot work normally before a USB device is initialized by the computer system. If an abnormal situation occurs in the computer system at this point, the POST code cannot be transmitted.
Further, a method for displaying the POST code through LEDs on a notebook computer system is also proposed in the prior art. Built-in LEDs such as keyboard lights, power lights, and hard disk lights of a notebook are used to represent corresponding POST codes using an LED combination display. However, such a method requires that users know in advance the POST codes indicated by various combinations of the LED lights. Therefore, the users need to be trained first, or must look up corresponding tables, which takes time.
Therefore, the problem to be solved is how to display the BIOS POST code in the computer system.